1. Field of Invention
This invention relates in general to a cluster of bird feeders on a wild bird feeding station and in particular to the use of baffles to prevent squirrels from reaching bird feeders.
2. Prior Art
The hobby of feeding birds has been a hobby by bird watchers since the country was founded. It is America's second largest hobby after gardening. Many different types and sizes of bird feeders have been developed throughout the years. Some bird feeders were placed on top of poles, while others were suspended from tree limbs. Wherever you find bird feeders, you can be rest assured that the bird feeder will be frequented by squirrels. For generations, squirrels have always had the sense and ingenuity of gaining access to the food in a bird feeder and consuming most of the food within a short time period. As a result, bird watchers have had to constantly refill the bird feeders at great expense. Birds which were accustomed to, in need of, and became dependent on the birdseed in the bird feeders especially during the cold winter months found that the bird feeders would remain empty for long periods of time because the bird watchers became upset with the squirrels and refused to refill them, which resulted in the death of some of the birds due to starvation. It is commonly known that if a person starts to feed birds during the cold winter months and the birds become dependent upon the birdseed for food, the bird watcher must continue to feed the bird during the cold winter, or else they could die of starvation. Birds sometimes need to eat nearly 50% of their body weight on a daily basis to survive. This resulted in a lower bird population during the spring and summer when the birds were needed to do their share in the environment and nature, by eating harmful insects.
Squirrels have been the major problems with bird feeders. They would dominate a feeder for hours, thus preventing hungry birds from reaching the feeders. When one squirrel left a feeder, another squirrel was ready to take its place at the feeder, thus preventing the birds from getting on the feeder.
There have been many attempts to make squirrel-proof bird feeders to prevent the theft of the bird seeds by squirrels, but they have proven to be not particularly successful.
In order to provide background information so that the present invention may be completely understood and appreciated in its proper context, reference is made to a number of prior art patents as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,898 Doubleday PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,891,508 Bower PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,780 Dunbar PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,451 Miller PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,839 Barry PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,035 Piltch PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,088 Fielder PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,681 Tucker PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,319 Blasbalg
Doubleday teaches a dome-shaped baffle which is composed of many parts and electric shock, which could become defective and expensive. It accommodated only one bird feeder and does not teach the present invention of having a cluster of bird feeders in a contained area.
Bower teaches a squirrel guard that has a large opening in the center. The large hole is covered by coiled springs. The coiled springs kept the guard in a level position. It could accommodate only one bird feeder and not a cluster of bird feeders. Instead of coil springs, in the present invention, the lower pole baffle has a center cut out and removed with a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the pole. This allows the baffle to pivot and sway on a plastic bushing. The baffle is held in position by a simple 23/4 plastic clamp and rests on a plastic bushing and not by a heavy coil spring.
Dunbar teaches nothing of the present invention, as it is a drum shaped guard suspended above one bird feeder.
Miller teaches a pre-sloped dome which is suspended above one bird feeder, which has a flat container as a bird feeder and does not teach the present invention.
Barry teaches a bowl bird feeder with a pre-sloped dome to prevent squirrel intrusion. It does not teach or prevent squirrels from getting on the regular bird feeders commonly in use today.
Piltch teaches a cylinder that rotates when the squirrel steps on it and causes it to fall to the ground, and does not teach the present invention.
Fielder teaches a squirrel guard that prevents squirrels from climbing up the pole to the bird feeders, which consists of a preformed and moulded squirrel guard with a curvature and a flat flange portion that has a re-entrant inner portion with a reverse curvature, extending to a central opening sized to fit the center pole with a loose fit and held in place by an O ring. This is too mechanical and costly, as it has too many parts attached to it to keep the squirrel guard in its proper position. In the present invention the lower pole baffle is very simple in comparison, composing only of a flat sheet metal or aluminum baffle with a circular cut from the center slightly larger than the diameter of the upright pole and is held in position by a plastic bushing and plastic clamp. The clamp may be moved up or down the pole thus allowing the lower pole baffle to be adjusted to any desired position on the pole.
Further, Fielder does not teach us the present invention because once the squirrels reach the structures from above (such as trees, tree limbs, etc.) the squirrels could easily have access to any of the bird feeders on the Fielder's prior art. The present invention has a sheet baffle on top of the pole to prevent squirrels from coming down the pole or jumping onto a feeder.
Tucker teaches a dome-shaped baffle over a flat feeder which is similar to Miller. It does not teach or prevent squirrels from going on the regular bird feeders commonly in use today.
Blasbalg does not teach the present invention as it is a large container holding the same type of bird seed. The bird feeder is so large that birds on the back side of the feeder cannot be easily viewed by the bird watcher.
Whatever the precise merits, features and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieve or fulfill the purposes of preventing squirrels from reaching a cluster of bird feeders in one contained feeding station, which is the present invention.
There have been bird feeders developed with a domed baffle above the bird feeder on top of the pole and a baffle on the lower end of the pole to prevent squirrels from going up the pole. Even in this arrangement, when the squirrel landed on the domed baffle and it gave way towards the pole, the squirrel once near the pole, would merely jump on the pole and work its way up the pole to the bird feeder. This arrangement was for only one bird feeder. If the bird watcher desired to attract several types of birds with different kinds of bird feed, such as sunflower or thistle, suet, etc., a pole must be erected for each bird feeder and the feeder must be away from the trees and tree limbs. The present invention prevents the squirrels from reaching the bird feeders even from trees or tree limbs.
Anyone who has attempted to prevent squirrels from gaining access to bird feeders can attest to the cunning and ingenuity of the squirrels in overcoming almost any obstacles, no matter how difficult it was for them.
If any of the prior arts with either a preshaped dome baffle or baffle above the bird feeder were individually hung on a plan T structure and a squirrel guard was placed on the lower end of the center pole to prevent the squirrels from going up the pole, it would still fail to achieve what the present invention accomplished because if the T structure were near trees or tree limbs, squirrels would merely jump on the upright structure from above and could easily have access to all the bird feeders by climbing down the center pole and jumping onto the nearest bird feeder thereby bypassing the individual baffles on top of each of the bird feeders.
Also, a dome shaped baffle would curve in towards the feeder if the squirrel was on top of the domed baffle and as the squirrel is on its way down between the feeders, it could easily jump onto the bird feeder beside it thus gaining access to the bird feeders from that position. The present invention does not allow a squirrel to gain a firm footing (as in a preshaped dome feeder) as the slightest touching of the baffle by a squirrel will cause the sheet baffle to sway and pivot, thus preventing the squirrel from getting any kind of secured footing in its attempt to jump onto any of the bird feeders. Any attempt by the squirrel to gain a secured footing would cause the squirrel to lose its balance and fall to the ground.